


Sorrow waited, sorrow won.

by Yukkuri



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5471570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukkuri/pseuds/Yukkuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the second son of a lesser lord, there was no way Baekhyun would inherit all of his father’s holdings. He wouldn’t even inherit his lands, so he had to seek his own fortune. In order to help his second son, his father sent him to squire for a much wealthier and more powerful highborn, Wu Yifan, who was the Lord Paramount of Snowgate, a skilled knight and the youngest king’s justice ever.</p><p>Baekhyun was both upset and terrified when his father told him this, for Wu Yifan was not only famous for his skill at arms, but he was also known as a cold blooded murderer—killing everyone the previous king had told him to, including his own brother when the king had commanded him to behead the younger Wu in front of the people of Snowgate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Title is taken from The National – Sorrow
> 
> Heavily inspired by ASOIAF series by GRRM, a lot of middle age references were taken from there and other fantasy books that set in medieval setting. 
> 
> Written for the sake of quenching my thirst for a knight!Baekhyun with his lord!Yifan. Baekhyun is 15 at the start of this fic and Yifan is 26.

 

i.

Baekhyun missed home, so bad he could taste the warm sweet air of Riverends in his tongue. If he closed his eyes, safe in the back of his eyelids, he could almost see the sun-split clouds, he could feel the tiny pinpricks of grass and wild flowers crushed under his feet as he ran, he could hear the wind shouting in his ears, and he was soaring into the sky that supposed to be blue, freefalling into the water that supposed to be liquid—he was in a place where everything was how they were supposed to be.

But once he opened his eyes again, everything vanished like an imperceptibly ceasing rain.

He was back staring at the dull dark ceiling, swaddled in the frigid air, and when he looked out of the window, all he could see was grey: grey sky, grey clouds, grey fog cloaking bare trees, snow covered grounds and frozen water. Everything was dark, dull and grey here. But worst of all, it was terribly cold. For a kid who was born and raised in the South like him, it would take moons to get used to the cold.

He could ask one of the serving girls to fetch him another hot ginger ale from the kitchen, but he thought they wouldn’t be so pleased about it since he had been asking for hot ginger ale almost every 10 minutes.

Baekhyun sighed, heavy and defeated. He pulled his thick blanket tightly, wrapping it around himself to the point of suffocating and he pretended he was back at Riverends, in his own bed, preferably with his sister, Soojung or his brother, Joonmyun, at his sides. Soojung would babbling about the feasts she visited with their father, the tourneys and the balls, and she would talk about this knight and that knight, eyes twinkling with hope, while Joonmyun and him would tease her that she would ended up shipped to marry some old rich lord just like how his father had planned once. He regretted saying that now for he was the one who ended up getting shipped to a foreign land, staying in an unfamiliar castle to squire for a mysterious lord with bad reputations.

Baekhyun shivered.

He hadn’t met Lord Yifan yet, but from all the rumors and titles the famous lord had earned; Cold as His Origin, Vicious Wu, The Heartless One—he wasn’t sure he was excited at the prospect.

He was both terrified and upset when his father told him that he would squire for the lord of Snowgate. But he knew he didn’t have a choice. His family needed this connection, a connection to one of the most powerful family in the nation.

He had heard tales about the young lord since he was a kid, his wet nurse loved to tell him all the scary things about Lord Yifan, the youngest king’s justice ever, a skilled knight. She said he had killed a woman right after he bedded her; cut her stomach open when she was still naked, she said he burned a peasant alive after he caught him stealing too many glances at the princess. The previous king had named him the king’s justice at the age of seventeen, after he had won every tourneys and combats all across the nation. He had executed far too many men and women for someone at such a young age. He had killed whoever the king told him to kill, and what made him earned such titles was because he had killed his own brother just because the king had told him to.

 

 

 

 

He must’ve had fallen asleep because when he woke up, he could barely see anything. It was so dark inside his chambers, and the air was colder. He felt a little disoriented and it took him awhile to realize there was a loud rapping on his door echoed through his chambers. Baekhyun hastily got up, cursing when his feet got tangled with the blanket, and fumbled to grab his robe in the dark before half-jogging to open the door.

A page boy was standing in front of him. He gave Baekhyun an apologetic smile probably noticing from his disarray appearance that he unintentionally had woken up the new squire from his slumber.

“What is it?” Baekhyun asked, frowning.

“I’m sorry my lord, but Lord Yifan had just arrived from the capital and he requested your presence in the dining hall.”

“He’s back already? I was informed that he would be back on the morrow.” Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows, his pulse racing at the thought of finally meeting his new lord, the man whom he would polish his armor for, saddling his horse or carried his weapons for the next couple of years until he was deemed worthy to be knighted.

“Lord Yifan decided to cut his visit to the capital short and started the journey home yesterday at dawn, my lord.”The page boy told him.

“Okay, I’ll just change my attire and I’ll be there in a bit.”Baekhyun said and the page boy nodded at him, turning and walking back in the direction of the dining hall. Baekhyun stepped back into his chambers, kicking the door closed behind him and headed directly into his closet. Soojung had helped him picked only his best attires. He chose his finest clothes, made from soft burgundy silk, a present from his father for his 14th name day. When most of the highborn kids got presents like armors, swords or new horses, his father could only give him a set of new clothes.

He wore the clothes and tried to comb his hair as best as he could with his fingers. When he stepped out into the hallway, his arms instinctively came around his body as a sad attempt to protect himself from the cold. He had a half mind to go back and grabbed a cloak but he thought it wouldn’t be wise to keep his new lord waiting any longer especially after he just got back from a long journey. He walked briskly to the dining hall, teeth clenched hard to stop it from chattering.

There were servants mingling around in front of the dining hall, their hands were full of trays of food and flagons of wine. They bowed their heads when Baekhyun passed them and Baekhyun hesitantly nodded his head back. An old man appeared to be waiting for him in front of the door. He was clad in a silver armor and dark grey cloak, the Wu’s color.

“You must be Byun Baekhyun.”The man said, smiling kindly at him.

“Yes ser.” Baekhyun answered, consciously straightening his posture just in case the man in front of him was the master-at-arms here.

“Lord Yifan had been waiting for you.”

“Yes, I heard he’s in the dining hall.” Baekhyun nodded his head at the half opened door in front of him. He couldn’t see what was going on inside from his position, but he could hear loud jarring voices, laughter and out of tune singing.

“No, no. He was but he had retreated to his chambers sometimes ago. Lord Yifan doesn’t particularly fond with feasting together I’m afraid. Come along, I’ll escort you to his chambers.”

Baekhyun strutted behind the old man, who after introducing himself was not the master-at-arms, he was Ser Junho, Yifan’s sworn sword.

“So how do you liking Snowgate?”

“Uh it’s really nice ser.”Baekhyun answered politely, he thought he caught Ser Junho’s lips twitched, probably in amusement because he just spurted out a blatant lie.

“I’m sure it’s different from Riverends.”

“I guess it’s much warmer in Riverends.”

“Riverends is famous for its friendly climate, nothing is too cold or too warm. I only visited there once when I was a boy, I remember I didn’t want to leave.” Baekhyun smiled at that. Feeling more and more homesick now. “So, how’s your father?”

They had turned into a much dimmer hallway, there were less servants here compared to any other parts of the castle that they had passed. “He’s well ser. He was so happy that Lord Yifan accepted his request to have me as his new squire.” “That’s good to hear.”

They stopped in front of a tall and thick set of doors. Baekhyun guessed they had arrived at Yifan’s chambers. Ser Junho knocked and said in a clear voice, “Your new squire is here, my lord.”

“Send him in.” Came the answer from the inside. Ser Junho opened the door for him and Baekhyun’s heart leapt to his throat. He took slow steps inside, carefully maintaining his expression so his dread and fear wouldn’t be that visible. Ser Junho seemed to notice his discomfort because he gave Baekhyun an encouraging nod. Prompted by the nod he took another long step and he was inside the chamber.

A man, Lord Yifan, was sitting behind a rich mahogany desk with a piece of parchment in front of him and a quill in his hand. Baekhyun had seen the man before, once or twice on one of his father’s rare visits to Snowgate, but he never saw the man up close. He heard stories of course that Yifan was comely, but he never thought that the man was this comely. His blond hair was illuminated by the moonlight, he was tall with broad shoulders and thick eyebrows framing a pair of sharp eyes.

“My lord.” Baekhyun managed, mentally thankful that his voice didn’t crack or trembled.

“You’re Byun Baekho’s son?” Yifan asked, staring expectantly at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun gulped once.“Yes my lord.”

He stared at him and Baekhyun shifted uncomfortably under the scrutinizing gaze. “How are you settling in?” He finally asked.

“Fine, my lord.”

“You can train with Ser Jun on the morrow, he is the master-at-arms here in this castle. I shall tell him to meet you first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, thank you my lord.”

Yifan leaned back on his chair and let out a sigh. “Your father expects a lot from you. He wrote me every moon asking for you to be accepted as my squire. I fought alongside him during the war once and he’s a kind man, I hope you won’t disappoint him. Or me.”

“N-no my lord, I promise I won’t.” Baekhyun shook his head vigorously. The thought of disappointing the man in front of him made his stomach churned with fear.

“I have your word.” The man said, already went back to his parchment. His hand moved elegantly across the parchment. Baekhyun realized a little too late that he’d just been dismissed. He hurriedly whispered a “goodnight my lord”, and walked backwards into the door. He almost broke into a run after the thick door closed behind him, but he slumped against it instead. His heart was still racing inside his chest and he needs to take a mouthful of air to calm it.

Apparently the man lived up to his reputation, at least the stoic and cold part. He had this strong aura that demanded people to cower and intimidated under his presence. Baekhyun mulled over Yifan’s words about not disappointing his father or him and he held the urge to cry. Baekhyun was never good at sword fighting. He could even say that Soojung was better than him. Joonmyun wasn’t that good either but he was the heir, he would inherit their father’s fortune and he would have guards, he didn’t have to be that good at sword fighting.

Baekhyun hoped he wouldn’t disappoint his father or Yifan that much. He looked out of the window at the end of the hallway and stared forlornly at the ink black sky. The snow dropping heavily into the ground and the wind was howling like a pack of angry wolves that cried.

Baekhyun pressed his palms against his eyes and walked with head casted down to his chambers.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun woke up at the first light. He took a quick bath, almost dying in the process when he came out of the warm bath and immediately assaulted by the freezing air, and now he was standing readily in the training yard waiting for Ser Jun to come.

He had a wooden sword in his arms. His real sword and armor were placed near him just in case Ser Jun preferred them to practice with the real thing. It was so cold outside, his hands were frozen and even the slightest touch hurt him. He had worn the warmest clothes he had, shoving a lot of fabrics down his boots to keep his feet warm, but he didn’t have anything to cover his head and hands, they were numb now and he almost couldn’t feel them anymore.

“You’re early.”

Baekhyun whipped his head around at the boyish sound. He found a boy, probably around his age, walking his way with wooden swords in his arms. The boy wore a thin dark tunic shoved haphazardly down his breeches with nothing else and Baekhyun squint his eyes.

“I have to train with Ser Jun.” He answered the boy and the boy smirked at him.

“Ser Jun wouldn’t wake up until midday.” The boy said, laughing mockingly at Baekhyun.

“And how do you know that?”

“I’m his squire.” The boy dropped all of the wooden swords near his feet and started to line them up in a neat order. “So you’re the new squire.”

“I am.”

The boy looked up and stared at Baekhyun from his head to his toe, seizing him up. Baekhyun scowled not liking the idea he was being judged by some random squire.

“How old are you?” The boy asked again.

“Five and ten.” Baekhyun raised his chin the way Suho usually did when he had to deal with some snobbish young lords.

“You’re small for a five and ten.”The boy scoffed and Baekhyun bristled, his nose scrunched in distaste at the boy’s height. He was almost a head taller than Baekhyun. He settled for throwing murderous glare at the boy and it seemed to amuse him as the boy’s lips kept twitching as if he was holding a smile.

“I’m Sehun.” The boy—Sehun—said and he stood up, taking one wooden sword in his hand. Baekhyun thought Sehun wasn’t that worthy to know his name so he kept mum, childishly pretending to examine his own wooden sword. Sehun laughed and shook his head at him.

“So come on new squire, let’s see if you’re any better than Lord Yifan’s previous squires.”

“What?”Baekhyun frowned.

“Let’s train.” Sehun raised his eyebrows at him.

“But I’m waiting for Ser Jun.” Sehun rolled his eyes at him and Baekhyun wanted so bad to gouge his eyes out of their sockets with his wooden sword. “Like I said he wouldn’t wake up until midday, better not to waste time.”

Baekhyun took a step backward and lifted his wooden sword into position. Sehun shot him a grin, lifting his own sword with ease. Baekhyun watched him warily. Sehun’s stance was good, steady, and he was standing like a man who had fought in a war before; instead of a young squire.

“Now, if you’re done watching me.” Sehun charged forward and Baekhyun, startled, jerked back, aside. Sehun tried to strike him again, now in a quick succession and Baekhyun ducked, sidestepped, whirled around—only remembered that he also had a sword and he raised it in time that Sehun struck him high, their wooden swords clacking together. Sehun leaned his strength into his wooden sword and Baekhyun struggled to block it, his hands were shaking from the effort. With a roar Baekhyun pushed Sehun, putting so much force into it but Sehun easily dodged it, sidestepping, so Baekhyun ended up striking air.

“Come on, my lord.”Sehun mocked. Scowling, Baekhyun lunged at him. He tried to memorize every single thing his old master-at-arms had taught him. He slashed, swung, kept charging forward, didn’t give Sehun any chance to retaliate. Then Sehun suddenly dropped to the floor, rolled clear, and stood in front of him. Baekhyun lifted his sword again, not ready to give up, he swung forward hard expecting to hit Sehun’s gut, but Sehun effortlessly jumped out of his reach.

“You’re stiff.” Sehun said as he went back into his stance. “And you’re thinking way too much. Let the movements come to you.”

Baekhyun gritted his teeth. “Again.”

Sehun grinned smugly and Baekhyun charged forward like a bull.

 

 

 

His body was aching all over. When he stepped into his bath that evening, Baekhyun couldn’t help but letting out a loud groan. The servant girl who was pouring warm water into his tub chuckled silently. Baekhyun ignored her in favor of closing his eyes and sunk low into his tub.

Ser Jun had come right at the moment when Sehun lunged at him and Baekhyun, too slow to react, had just stood there accepting the blow Sehun landed on his ribs. He had staggered back, wincing and cursing when he saw Ser Jun approaching them. Too slow, too stiff, wrong stance, all the comments Ser Jun threw at him hurt his already wounded pride. He told Baekhyun to focus on his footwork, and worked on it every day starting from now.

Sighing, he rubbed his ribs slowly, yelping when his fingers accidentally pressed too hard on the tender spot. He snapped his eyes open and was glad to be met by empty chambers. His pride couldn’t take anymore humiliation. If the servant girl found him yelping like maiden just from a small bruise, he sure would be a joke to all the servant girls in this castle.

Baekhyun washed himself gingerly, scrubbing every grimes and sweat before he patted himself dry with a towel that was laid near him. He walked to his closet grabbing the first tunic he could find, he wore it, layering it with a thick cloak. He wanted nothing more other than slipping underneath the covers, too ready for the day to end. But he forced himself to walk to his table, remembering his promise to write to both Soojung and Joonmyun as soon as he settled in.

He sat, grabbing a piece of parchment, ink and a quill.

_Dear Joonmyun and Soojung,_

_I hate it here._

He started.

_It’s so cold and I miss the sweet warmth of Riverends. I only have been here for 4 nights and I miss you all terribly. I can’t wait for Soojung’s name day to come so I would have an excuse to visit Riverends._

_Now, I know all of you want to know about Lord Yifan, but I haven’t met the man properly yet. I met him once last night, he seemed okay, he doesn’t kill peasants or butchering servants just like how our wet nurse said. But maybe I speak too soon. I would have a lot of chances to get to know him later, I suppose._

_I started training today and my whole body hurts. I’m not built to be a knight, even the master-at-arms here said so. I’m too slow, too stiff, and I regret not paying attention to Ser Junghoon before. Reply this letter as soon as you can, I want to know what happens at Riverends._

_Baekhyun._

Baekhyun folded the letter carefully and sealed it.

He would have to send it tomorrow on his way to the training yard. He got up, wearily walked to his bed and flopped on top of his covers.

The bruise on his ribs started to throb rhythmically.


	2. Chapter 2

 

ii.

His days were a blur of sleeping, training, and warm baths at night to soothe his aching joints. Sehun had managed to defeat him 5 times in all of their sparring together. Baekhyun had won once, but that was only because Sehun was too distracted by a kitchen wench to fight him properly. He ran in the direction of the kitchen once Ser Jun had declared Baekhyun won. Baekhyun was more than less pleased with him.

He was walking down to his chambers, stomach growling like an angry bear, thinking about what he would have for dinner when he met the same pageboy who had wake him up last night. The pageboy was carrying a tray full of food, Baekhyun spotted poppy seed cakes and immediately his stomach growled louder. The pageboy looked up when he saw Baekhyun approaching.

“My lord.” He greeted.

“Are there more any one of those in the kitchen?”Baekhyun asked, pointing at the cakes.

“Plenty, my lord. They are Lord Yifan’s favorites.” The pageboy smiled.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “His favorite?” He repeated. The pageboy nodded and gave him one last smile before he walked into the direction of Yifan’s chambers. “Wait!” Baekhyun yelled, stopping the pageboy in his track.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Are you going to take them to Lord Yifan’s chambers?”

The pageboy frowned in confusion, “Yes my lord.”

Baekhyun mentally chastised himself. He had been so focus in training that he had neglected his other squire duties. He was supposed to _serve_ Yifan, attending to his every need, and all he did was training in the training yard.

“Let me take them.” Baekhyun said, moving to grab the tray from the pageboy.

“But, my lord..”

“That’s fine. I’m his squire, it’s supposed to be my duty.”

“My lord.” The pageboy gripped the tray tighter and Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’m his squire.” He repeated sternly, using his most authoritative tone. Joonmyun always said he sounded like a constipated goat like that and it always made him felt silly, but it worked. The pageboy reluctantly yielded the tray and Baekhyun threw him a smug grin before he marched to Yifan’s chambers.

He passed Sehun on the way to the west wing—no doubt he was still in his quest to woo the kitchen wench.

“Finally doing your duty as a squire eh?”Sehun commented and Baekhyun bit his lips to hold his snarl at bay.

“Shut up!”

“Be careful I heard Lord Yifan loves to hang squires or servants if he doesn’t like the food they deliver to him.”Sehun grinned cheekily at him and Baekhyun halted in his steps.

“That’s a lie.”Baekhyun stared at Sehun, trying to find the signs that Sehun was telling lies. But Sehun’s face was a smooth blank canvas, and Baekhyun fidgeted anxiously.

“Do you know Jongdae?”Sehun whispered.

“The cook?”Baekhyun whispered back. He had met the cook—he was young, probably a couple years older than himself but he made the best pigeon pie ever.

“Yes, why do you think he lost two of his left fingers?”

Baekhyun froze. “No.” He breathed out.

“Good luck Baekhyun, I heard he loves poppy seed cakes so he would spare you.” Sehun patted his shoulders seriously and Baekhyun was too stunned to shrug him off. “For now.” He added, chuckling loftily when Baekhyun was just staring at him, mute.

He stared dumbly at Sehun’s retreating back and then looking down at the tray. _How ridiculous._ He thought. _Chopping the cook’s fingers? Hanging servants and squires? Baekhyun, and you believe that? What are you, five?_ Baekhyun scowled at the direction where Sehun disappeared and continued walking to the west wing where Yifan’s chambers were located.

He kept telling himself that it was a terrible joke but he couldn’t help the slight fear that twisted his stomach into knots when he stood in front of the familiar thick doors. Baekhyun forced-swallowed his nervousness and knocked on the door just like the way Ser Junho had done before.

“My lord, I bring your breakfast.” He said.

There were a rustling sound before Yifan’s deep voice answered, “come in.”

Baekhyun sucked in a deep breath before opening the door with one hand. His right arm trembled from the effort of balancing the tray. He looked around the room and found Yifan was standing near his closet, rifling through his clothes. He was clad in a night robe and was even more breathtaking under the morning light. Feeling his knees weakened, Baekhyun hurriedly placed the tray on the nearest table. Yifan looked up at the sound of the tray hitting the surface of the table. Baekhyun gave him a cautious bow.

“Baekhyun?” Yifan asked, there was a slight wonder in his tone. Baekhyun felt embarrassment washed over him, again, for neglecting his squire duties.

“Yes my lord.”He answered meekly. Yifan didn’t seem to be bothered at all, he walked to the table, peeking inside the tray. Immediately Sehun’s words started to float in his mind, taunting him. _Lord Yifan loves to hang squires or servants if he doesn’t like the food they deliver to him. Why do you think he lost two of his left fingers?_

“Poppy seed cakes, my lord, I heard you love poppy seed cakes.” Baekhyun said with a hint of hysteria in his voice.

Yifan turned his head at him. “I do.” was all he answered but Baekhyun felt so relief he unconsciously letting out a happy sigh. Yifan raised his two eyebrows at that but otherwise didn’t say anything. Baekhyun pulled a chair for Yifan to sit and stood beside him as his lord enjoying his food, like a dutiful squire.

“How is your training?”

Baekhyun chewed the inside of his cheek. “Uh good, my lord.” Well, he did defeat Sehun once.

“Do you love sword fighting?”

“I suppose I do, my lord.”

Yifan flicked his gaze at him and Baekhyun swallowed hard. “ _I suppose_?”

“I-I’m not very good at it. Ser Jun said I’m too slow, too stiff, but I want to be a great knight.”

“Well you need to work harder on that, don’t you think?”

“Of course, my lord.”

Yifan continued eating his breakfast in silence and Baekhyun stood idly beside him. He looked around the room curiously. Yifan’s chambers looked so magnificent bathed in a subdued glow of winter sun. There were a vertible armory of fine weapons, a tall bow and a quiver of arrows, and Baekhyun found himself drawn into an armor stood sentry; the steel was polished to such a high seen that it sparkled under the light. He reminded himself to keep the armor stayed as shiny as that now that the job to polish it fell into his hands.

Baekhyun focused on Yifan again now that his liege lord had finished his breakfast. Yifan stood up, walking to his bed, shedding his robe down to his smallclothes. Baekhyun politely averted his gaze although his cheeks felt hot when his gaze zeroed on the muscular chest for too many seconds.

“I’m going to take my bath, could you fetch me a servant?” Yifan asked.

“I’m going to fill your tub my lord.”

Yifan replied without looking at him. “You could just go back to practice Baekhyun.”

“No, I will do my duties as your squire.” Baekhyun insisted. Yifan finally turned around to face him and Baekhyun flushed under his stare. “I haven’t been a proper squire. I should’ve fetched your meals, prepared for your bath, and attending to your every need. But I’ve been too busy on the training yard.”

“Just like how I told you to.” Yifan looked at him curiously.

“Yes, but still, my lord.” Baekhyun looked up, clenched his hands into fists. “You are kind enough to accept me as your squire when you could get a more skillful squire.”From a better family was what he didn’t say. “But instead you accepted me and it’s my job to serve you, to do whatever you told me to do, to always be there if you ever need help—“ Baekhyun trailed off because Yifan’s lips just quirked and Baekhyun dared to say there was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Fetch me warm water then Baekhyun, thank you.” Yifan said instead, the amusement still there in his eyes. Baekhyun didn’t know how to make of that so he mumbled a “yes, my lord” and scurried out of the chambers.

 

 

 

 

“I want you to disarm each other. The first persons who lose their sword to the other person lose.”

Baekhyun held his wooden sword tighter and Sehun sneered at him. He had gone back to the training yard once he filled Yifan’s tub with warm water. He stopped at the kitchen first, telling the servants that he would be the one who would deliver Yifan’s food from now on. He found Sehun was sparring with another squire when he got here, Kyungsoo or something; he was Ser Junho’s squire. Once their fighting was over—Sehun knocked the poor boy’s head with his wooden sword so hard his wooden sword almost split into two, Ser Jun beckoned him over to be Sehun’s next opponent.

“So I take it Lord Yifan likes the poppy seed cakes.” Sehun grinned, swinging his wooden sword annoyingly.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!”Baekhyun said, raising his wooden sword into position. He determined to wipe that smug grin off of Sehun’s face forever, probably painting a couple of nice bruises here and there.

Sehun lunged at him, slashing at his head, but Baekhyun parried the blow by holding his sword vertically. He gritted his teeth and thrust his sword at Sehun when the latter had retreated before him, trying to read his movements. Sehun was always observant during fights. He swept Baekhyun’s sword away and retaliate by slashing at Baekhyun’s arm. Baekhyun was too slow to evade it and he had to bit his tongue to stop his cry. Furious, Baekhyun started to come hard at Sehun, driving into him with his wooden sword and Sehun scrambled backward, checking each blow, his eyes never leaving him. Baekhyun was too busy striking, keeping his wooden sword high, he didn’t realize he left a lot of opening for Sehun to attack him. He wanted to move his sword, but it was too late as Sehun had landed three painful blows to his chest and shoulder, Baekhyun’s grip to his sword slackened and Sehun strike his hands hard, sending his sword flew away.

Baekhyun watched his wooden sword flew from his grasp in disbelief, it landed almost at the end of the training yard. There was a deafening shout as the spectators cheered for Sehun. He heard Sehun laughed and the sound of people clapping his back, praising him. He imagined Ser Jun would have that father-pride smile on his face now that once again his squire had defeated his lord’s squire.

Baekhyun walked to retrieve his pitiful wooden sword and that was when he spotted a tall blond man staring mutely at him. Baekhyun’s heart lurched in his chest. He stared at Yifan, feeling a thousand times worse than before. Now his lord would know how much of a loser he was, that his new squire was actually a weakling.

His face fell when Yifan turned his back at him, walking back to the safety of the castle.

_“Your father expects a lot from you. He wrote me every moon asking for you to be accepted as my squire. I fought alongside him during the war once and he’s a kind man, I hope you won’t disappoint him. Or me.”_

He just did.

Baekhyun took his wooden sword, only realizing now that his hands were shaking. He shoved his wooden sword down his belt, he walked with his shoulders slumped into the castle—making sure his steps were slow enough so he wouldn’t accidentally passing Yifan.

He heard Sehun and the other squires called for his name but Baekhyun ignored them. He wanted nothing but lay under his covers, sleeping, preferably for a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

 

iii.

_Dear Baekhyun,_

_I’m very upset to hear that you hate it there. Snowgate is not the kind of place I would wish for you, I had persuaded father to make you squire elsewhere, preferably in the south, but again father was so adamant that you only would squire for our liege lord, so I really hope that you would get used to Snowgate soon._

_I don’t know what father plans for my name day, but it surely wouldn’t be a feast since I’m not Joonmyun. I just hope it’s not one of those awful trips to the Summer Isle, father should know by now that I couldn’t stand the heat, I hate sweating._

_We miss you. At least Joonmyun and I do. He would write to you soon, he’s busy preparing for the tourney for Lord Henry’s name day. Do you know that father desperately want Lady Qian betrothed to Joonmyun? I’m so excited for it! That means we would be Lord Henry’s siblings by law, how amazing is that!_

_Oh and would Lord Yifan participating in that tourney? I genuinely hope he would, so we could meet in Underbridge, I really want to see you again._

_You sound so miserable and I hate it whenever you miserable._

_Love,_

_Soojung_

Baekhyun clutched the letter to his chest, closing his eyes and thinking about his sister, Soojung—her long curly hair, the vanilla scent that Baekhyun always associated with her, and her ability to always made him felt better. He shoved the letter inside his drawer carefully, hidden under stacks of blank parchments.

He had slept badly last night, drifting in and out of consciousness. He dreamt he was back in Riverends, at the small training yard with Ser Junghoon in front of him. He was sparring with Joonmyun—with real swords instead of wooden swords, and he remembered feeling strangely furious. No, not furious, envious, the same envy that he always felt whenever his father paid more attention to Joonmyun instead of him. Joonmyun was clad in a rich doublet with sword that was adorned with jewels, while he was only clad in his usual training tunic with plain sword. The fight was over so quickly, he didn’t remember doing much except blocking and evading Joonmyun’s attacks, it ended up with Joonmyun striking him hard in his arm sending him staggering back, wheezing and clutching at his bleeding arm.

His father’s face suddenly appeared between them, expression sad and lips turned down into a frown. But when his mouth opened, it was Yifan’s voice instead of his father’s that came out: _“You promised not to disappoint me Baekhyun. I have your word.”_

That was when he woke up, angry and frustrated with himself. He was sweating under his covers, drenched in the freezing winter dawn.

 

 

 

 

The snow was pouring heavily today and the wind was whistling an angry song. Baekhyun walked out of his chambers, shivering even under too many layers of his clothes. He took a shortcut to the kitchen, intending to avoid open windows where the cold would be too vicious for his liking. He walked past the servant chambers, past the guardroom, and past the stairs leading to the pigeon tower. He was about to turn left into the dark hallway leading to the kitchen’s back door, when there was a sound of footsteps descending down the stairs. Baekhyun stopped, intrigued. It was barely light, who needed to send letters at the crack of dawn?

He deliberately slowed his steps, waiting until the unknown figure reached the last step. Ser Junho was standing in front of him, clad in his grey cloak, but Baekhyun could see his sleeping tunic peeking under the thick cloak. He looked startled when he saw him and Baekhyun gave the man a hesitant smile. The man stared at him suspiciously but his lips were pulled into a soft smile.

“Good that I see you here Baekhyun.” He said, nodding at Baekhyun.

“Why, ser?” Baekhyun asked, confusion evident in his voice.

“Lord Yifan would have to leave for Northshell this morning.” He informed Baekhyun.

Baekhyun frowned, “this morning ser? Why all the haste?”

“Lord Minseok had called for his help to finish some important matters that need an immediate attention.” The man gave him a hearty clap on the shoulder and Baekhyun’s knees almost buckled from the force of it. “I want you to prepare his horse, the black stallion one, the stable boy would know.”

“Yes, ser.” Baekhyun said although the idea of going out to the stable wasn’t very appealing right now.

“Thank you Baekhyun. I better fetch a maid chamber to wake him up now.”

He watched Ser Junho walking to the opposite direction and when the older man disappeared from his sight, Baekhyun groaned, tightening his cloak around himself.

With a sigh, he walked away from the kitchen into the cold freezing air.

 

 

 

 

He found the stable boy was sleeping on top of carefully stacked hay. He startled and sputtered “I’m sorry m’lord” when Baekhyun nudged him awake, coughing hay out of his mouth.

“Get me Lord Yifan’s horse, the black stallion one.” He told the boy who immediately scrambled to get up and went to retrieve the horse. Baekhyun decided to wait him outside the stable, the cold was more favorable than the pungent smell of horse shit inside.

The boy was back awhile later, dragging a big black stallion beside him and a saddle made from rich leather on his other hand. Baekhyun told the boy to leave him with a nod and the boy scurried off, hunching his shoulders to shield himself from the strong wind.

Baekhyun walked closer to the horse, he brushed him with his hand and the horse let out a soft neigh, nodded twice, and nudged Baekhyun’s hand for more. Baekhyun chuckled, letting the horse enjoying more coddling before he had to take his lord on a long journey.

He took the saddle and put it on the stallion’s back, he let the straps down and started to tighten the tie strap. Baekhyun was giving the tie strap a few more reassuring tug, when he heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up and was met with Yifan dressed in a dark doublet and grey cloak. Baekhyun felt his heart sunk to his stomach, Yifan looked very intimidating like that. Clad in dark color with his blond hair slicked back neatly. Baekhyun could see the man who was feared by so many people, the man who was both hated and awed.

“Y-your horse is ready my lord.” Baekhyun said, immediately casting his eyes down and pretending to fumble with one of the straps.

“Thank you.” Yifan replied. Baekhyun stayed back as Yifan mounted the horse in one smooth movement. He even mounted his horse _gracefully_ , Baekhyun bitterly thought. Baekhyun was suddenly reminded of how Yifan turned his back at him when Sehun disarmed him yesterday. He was half afraid that Yifan would mention how incompetent he was, criticized his poor skill—his nerves started to climb to his throat like a bile and Baekhyun desperately tried to shove them into his stomach where they belong.

“Look at me Baekhyun.”Yifan told him and Baekhyun, startled, instinctively following the command. Yifan’s gaze was sharp, but there was something akin to amusement in there that sent a fluttery yank to his stomach. “None of us could be a great knight in fortnight.” He began. Baekhyun swallowed hard, cautiously staring back at Yifan. “To become a great knight needs a process, most of the time failures. Sehun is good with sword I heard, Ser Jun trained him well, but that doesn’t mean you can’t defeat him. Don’t let it deterred you. The Great Kyungsoo was proclaimed as one of the weakest knights where he came from, but he became one of the best Lord Commanders of King’s guard in history. Train harder and you’ll be better in no time.”

Baekhyun felt a rush of fondness surged in his chest and his smile faltered with emotion. Yifan knew how much losing to Sehun yesterday had bothered him and he was relief that Yifan didn’t hate for it. In fact, if those words were any indication, he could see that the older man was slightly worried about him.“Thank you, my lord. I’ll train harder.” He said with wobbly voice.

He must’ve had been staring at Yifan in such a way because Yifan suddenly fidgeted uncomfortably with the straps. He let out an awkward cough and motioned to the direction of the training yard with his hand. “Go now, go practice.”

“Be careful on your journey, my lord.”Baekhyun half-murmured, flushing. Yifan nodded, his lips quirked in that telltale of amusement of his and Baekhyun flushed harder. The horse let out a snort as if he was mocking him and Baekhyun groaned inwardly. He shot Yifan one last grateful look before running to the training yard. The deep snow making it hard for him to run and he stumbled through it. He thought he heard the horse letting out another snort.

The castle seemed so empty once Yifan’s party left. A lot of squires—boys of all ages—fought and jested through the halls now that they were free of the knights they were bound to. Baekhyun chose to avoid them after he saw Sehun was playing with some of them. He even saw the pageboy, the same pageboy he usually encountered with, as one of Sehun’s playmates. He heard Sehun called him once, Jongin or something his name. Sehun was great at everything—sword fighting to making friends, he thought with dull resentment.

Baekhyun thought about going to the training yard, he figured now that most of the squires were here, the training yard would be empty. With that in mind, Baekhyun set to walk out of the castle. However, when he passed the kitchen hallway, he could see Jongdae the cook was struggling hoisting up what looked like a huge sack of wheat. There were no servants in sight so Baekhyun approached him.

“You need help?”

Jongdae turned around and gave a curt nod to Baekhyun. “Yes, thank you m’lord.”So together they carried it to the kitchen.

“Where are the servants?” Baekhyun asked. He looked around, the kitchen was almost empty.

“They are in the backyard playing, m’lord. We don’t have to cook anything until supper and we don’t have to cook a lot.” Jongdae answered. He cut opened the sack and that was when Baekhyun really paid attention to his hand and he remembered what Sehun said about the lost fingers.

“What happened to your fingers?” Baekhyun asked before he could stop himself. Jongdae looked up at him, his eyes half narrowed and Baekhyun was afraid he had offended the guy.

“I’m sorry I don’t mean to—“ He hurriedly said but Jongdae just smiled at him.

“Oh it’s nothing m’lord. I accidentally chopped my fingers with a butcher knife years ago.” Jongdae said and Baekhyun winced. Seeing his expression, Jongdae muse, “It’s just..did Sehun say something weird about them m’lord?”

“What?”

“Sehun..he always use my fingers to scare the young squires, saying that Lord Yifan chopped my fingers because of some petty crimes—cooking foods he hates or forgetting to put onions in his capons.”

Baekhyun gaped. “He—“

“Lord Huang’s son, Zitao, begged his father to return him back to Summerhall after that. We have to make a lot of blackberry tarts to placate him.”

Baekhyun closed his mouth stiffly, imaging the smug smirk on Sehun’s face. That impudent boy would really get it one day.

“Do you like blackberry tart m’lord?” Jongdae asked, evading his mind from thoughts of murdering Sehun in a thousand creative ways.

“I eat everything.” Baekhyun shrugged.

“Lord Yifan loves sweets.” Jongdae shared. “On his name day we would make cream swans, lemon cakes, spiced honey biscuits, apple crisps and of course poppy seed cakes for the feast. A lot of guests are always surprised to see him devouring the desserts with a childlike excitement.”

Baekhyun imagined Yifan eating all of those sugary desserts, squealing in delight at the sweetness, and the sight made him want to coo he had to pretend to sneeze to stop the urge to actually doing it. “I guess it just doesn’t suit his image.” Baekhyun said instead, glad his voice sounded normal.

“Ah, the image.” Jongdae glanced at him curiously. “What do they say about Lord Yifan in the south m’lord?”

“What?” Baekhyun frowned.

“Well in here a lot of them are scared of him. They call him the Cruel One, the Heartless Brother, and the Fail King’s spawn. They said that he would slay everyone who stands in his way, even it’s his own son and that’s why he isn’t married yet. Because there are no lady who would willingly subjected into that fate.”

“But..they are his own people!” Baekhyun exclaimed, affronted.

“Aye.” Jongdae smiled sadly. “He has the same amount of people who hates him here that he has in the south.”

Baekhyun’s heart broke at that. He thought about all the horrible things his wet nurse used to say about him and that made him crestfallen. For the short time he knew the man, Yifan seemed like a good man. “They say a lot of horrible things about him.” was all he said. Jongdae nodded in understanding. “Is it true what they say about what he did to his brother?”

Jongdae’s face crumpled.“Yes, that much is true.”

“But..why? No one really said what the younger Wu did to deserve that. Some say that’s because he tried to rape the princess and most say he just fell under the victim of the old king’s strange whim, which one is the truth?”

“I wonder the same thing m’lord. Lord Yifan said wouldn’t share a thing about it, he said the old king himself had commanded him to keep it a secret, he swore an oath.”

“That’s too weird.”Baekhyun bit his lips, shaking his head.

“Yes it’s weird indeed.”

Baekhyun stayed aside, watching in silence while Jongdae was busy preparing supper. His mind was racing, galloping elsewhere and by the time supper came, he wasn’t hungry anymore.

Baekhyun retreated to his chambers early. He changed into his smallclothes, blowing out the candles and buried deep inside his covers. His mind still wouldn’t rest. Everything Jongdae had told him keeping him awake. Baekhyun thought of Yifan, alone surrounded by his enemies, alone haunted by the ghost of his brother, alone trapped in his past and he felt a surge of protectiveness for the man he barely knew.

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to think about Riverends, about its beauty, its wonderful climate, but it was a futile attempt. No matter how hard he tried, his mind kept wondering to Yifan.


End file.
